In a collective slump for most of July, the Mets' big hitters at the top of the lineup finally broke out in a big way on Saturday to help New York even the series against the San Francisco Giants heading into Sunday's series finale.
Brandon Nimmo, Francisco Lindor, Juan Soto and Pete Alonso — dubbed the Mets' "Fab Four" this season — had nine of the team's 13 hits while Nimmo, Lindor and Alonso drove in 10 runs in a 12-6 win.
Alonso's three-run bomb (after Nimmo was hit by a pitch and Lindor walked) started things off in the first inning. In the fourth inning, the top of the lineup came through once more with Nimmo and Lindor driving in runs to re-take the lead after the Giants had gone up in the top half of the inning. That same duo atop the order was at it again in the sixth, driving in runs on back-to-back singles to extend the lead.
For an encore, Nimmo and Lindor tacked on three more in the eighth after Nimmo hit his third single of the game and Lindor smacked a double to the gap in right center. They're both now tied for second on the team (alongside Soto) with 63 RBI while Alonso leads the pack at 86 driven in.
"It’s always good to see those guys performing and having good at-bats, getting results, driving the ball, getting big hits, taking walks," said manager Carlos Mendoza. "We haven’t seen that in a while. But we know they’re too good of players and too good of hitters."
And while the contributions made by the middle and bottom of the order during the "Fab Four's" slump were helpful and did not go unnoticed, the Mets know that if they want to go far into the postseason, their superstars at the top of the order will need to lead the way.
What was also great about the offensive onslaught spearheaded by the big guns at the top is that so many hits came with runners in scoring position.
New York's struggles with RISP this season have been well-documented — it's been an ugly trend for the team all year. Just last night, in the bottom of the 10th inning after San Francisco drove in the free runner to take a 4-3 lead, the Mets were unable to do the same. Even worse was it was the top of the lineup that couldn't get the job done, not even able to advance the free runner to third.
It was just another example in a long line of disappointing, albeit much too familiar occurrences. But on Saturday, those troubles were conquered with New York finishing 8-for-17 with RISP.
"At some point this is going to turn and it was good to see it today – up and down, but especially those guys at the top," Mendoza said about his team righting their offensive struggles. "They’re special and when they get going we’re pretty dangerous and we saw it today. We need them."
Of course, it was just one game and the Mets have been susceptible this season to falling flat after a big game offensively. So, the goal for the team for the final two months of the season — now that the bullpen has been fortified and on full display over the last two games — needs to be keeping the offense going.
Saturday was a great start in doing that.
"We have a great team overall," Lindor said after the game. "… Our front office did a fantastic job of building and putting this team together and now it's on us."
